I was approached by the Hong Kong based online shop oosupplies.com to review their snacks. After having gone through their product range I agreed to review Ostrim No.1 Sports Nutrition Meat Sticks.

I'm always a bit sceptic when something is labelled as "No.1". And I am not much of a snacker. Or at least I try not to be. Yet there are situations when snacks is all you can have and then you better have good ones.

What situations am I talking about? Outdoor activities, budget airliner flights, conventions... anything where you are in transit and there is not much food around.

Oosupplies then sent me two Ostrim flavour samples: Applewood and Maple Brown Sugar.

Taste and nutrition:I had the turkey jerky during a moderate/ easyish hike with some elevation and at 30°C heat and 84% humidity. Those are usually conditions where people do not like to fuel up with protein stuff. Although I prefer healthy fats in my food, the jerky was easy to handle for my digestive system because it was low fat. The meaty taste is that of rather a mild sausage in comparison to other meat sticks which taste of salty pastrami. It luckily did not cause any meat burbs when I was tackling hills. One stick is around kcal 100 and with proper hydration kept me sated on my hike.

The big question: Is it Paleo? Strictly speaking no as it still contains some sugar, non-fat dry milk and vegetable juice powder. But in a reasonable moderate dosis and the right circumstances I would consider it a Paleo-admissible feature. Like whey-protein, potatoes and "Paleo" cookies it has its time and its place.

So what is it good for?If you can't make your own jerky and you do not have the time or access to real food this would be a decent alternative to get you over those desperate transit hours.

Although I would not call it the "No.1 sports nutrition" choice it's still quite convenient, easy to transport and minimally processed (based on the ingredients list I could make something similar myself).

Therefore I would recommend it as an emergency food pack for the backpack or hand-carry. Since it's vacuum packed it'll last a long time and you'll be less likely to be troubled at airport customs (except Australia of course).

Ostrim meat sticks beat most highly processed protein bars you can get in Hong Kong and it certainly beats the mush they serve during those 3-5 hour flights. And priced at HKD 19 per stick you get more taste and more satiety for your buck then with a pack of energy gel.